Dr. Bailey usurps Meredith's role as the disembodied voice haunting Seattle Grace in order to narrate her own family drama. After avoiding her husband's calls all day, Tucker pages her to the ER, much to her aggravation. That aggravation turns to shock when she realizes that he was paging her because their son has been rushed to the emergency room after a bookcase fell on him after she may or may not have left a baby gate open. As Young Tuck enters surgery, all work in the hospital grinds to a halt as the attendings, residents, and the odd intern (yes, George, I mean you) gather to gawk at, er, support Dr. Bailey in her time of need.
Meanwhile, a wild pack of faith healers (headed up by the squeaky-voiced pediatric surgeon who was on ER just long enough to bed Dr. Carter) roams the halls of the hospital curing staph infections, calming erratic heartbeats, presciently psychoanalyzing Alex, and generally irking the surgeons.
When George's mom stops by to drop off the baby clothes she's been busily knitting for George and Callie, Callie doesn't have the heart to tell her that she and George have made like a banana and split. Luckily for George, Izzie has no qualms about inserting her size 9 squarely in her mouth and blabs about the breakup in typically overly graphic detail. George can't be mad at Izzie for being a big mouth, though, because the second he sees Meredith he opens his giant yawp, inserts his size 5, and spills the beans about Derek and Rose.
Despite Dr. Hahn's best surgical efforts, Young Tuck is still on a respirator, so the Chief and Bailey decide that they gotta have faith and call in the faith healers to save Young Tuck. While the magic hands work great for Tuck, no amount of faith healing will fix Dr. Bailey's marriage, and Tucker moves out of the Bailey homestead. Oh and Mer-Der broke up. Again.
For a refreshing change of pace, Bailey voice-overs us into this week's theme, sounding not entirely enthusiastic about it. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (at least that's what they say). He created the creatures of the air, and the beasts of the field, and He looked at His creation and He saw that it was good. There are lots of really beautiful establishing shots of Washington wilderness, and some absurdly cute bunnies for good measure. Maybe they're there to give us an even greater feeling of calm and happiness so that we can be crushed that much more by later events. "And then God created man, and it's been downhill ever since." Leading the charge are Mark and Derek, who are walking through the woods. Mark tells Derek about how Hahn loves him, and about what a great time they had going out for drinks. Derek smells a rat and after a moment, Mark has to admit that Callie was there too. Derek points out that it wasn't a date so Mark changes the subject to ask where they're going. Derek gets philosophical, like he does, to ask why it's always about the destination and not about the journey. I guess he's just such a pro at letting things linger and never making concrete decisions about life that he really understands appreciating the journey, even when it's just the emotional equivalent of circling the block over and over and over again. It's not about the journey for Mark since he's in $300 shoes, which as we see close-up are slurping through the mud. Okay, I don't consider myself an outdoors kind of person, but who wears $300 shoes on a hike? Well, a pretty boy, I guess.
Mark asks him if Meredith found out about him and Rose, and Derek counters that there's nothing to find out since it was just a kiss. Mark, wise as he is whenever it comes to Derek's romantic stupidity, points out that Derek's not the kind of guy who makes out with nurses in scrub rooms. "Not that that there's anything wrong with that." Derek asks what he thinks, and Mark wisely says he thinks it was more than just a kiss, but Derek's gleefully not listening and asks what he thinks of where they are, since it's the site of his new house. His new house is going to have a really spectacular view off a cliff to homes and the water below, and he grins stupidly back at Mark.
Bailey picks back up with, "The story goes on to say that God created man in His own image, but there's not much proof of that; after all, God made the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all man makes is trouble." Plans are laid out for a big house, and it's Derek, rolling them out for Meredith in her kitchen. She's ignoring him while she cracks eggs, very proud of herself for making an omelet. Derek wants to know what she thinks of the house, since it's her house too. An egg drops to the floor, and there's a moment for everyone to realize that Derek's moving too fast, Mere's freaking out, and blah blah blah WE'RE OVER IT-cakes. He then asks why she's cooking, and it turns out to be for Lexie. She's trying to be sisterly, to which I say bravo! We finally have some growth!
Alex knocks on Izzie's door to try and get her up, but she whines about not wanting to get out of bed. Once she sticks her head out from under the covers, she makes a face and wonders what she's smelling; when Alex tells her that someone's cooking, she declares, "That's not cooking." Alex tells her she'll be late, but Izzie just declares she hates, work, Cristina, and Hahn.
Lexie sits up from where she spent the night on the sofa and also notices the smell. George, still sleeping on the floor, grabs his face and mentions that it smells like sulfur. I know this is sort of a classic TV gag, but I have to believe that Meredith, not being a cook but being someone who, oh, eats food, would have noticed that what she was cooking smelled bad and would then scrap it. She calls out, "breakfast!" to the two orphans and Lexie gets up to go in. George desperately claws at her leg so that she won't go, but she points out that Meredith was being nice so she's going.
Lexie runs into Alex in the hall and blandly asks him where his girlfriend is. He tells her she's probably back with her husband, and that he has no girlfriend. "Or a conscience, apparently," Lexie adds, but he just replies, "Yeah, but you knew that going in!" He's not wrong.
In the kitchen, Derek's telling Meredith that even if they don't build right now they have to plan right now, but are interrupted. Alex asks what's on Derek's plate, and he declares not-entirely-brightly, "Meredith cooked." He adds that she cooked for Lexie, who's really touched but Meredith tries to brush it off, saying it's just eggs, avocado, and some cheese she found in the fridge. Lexie tries to look happy as she announces, "I love...avocado!" She then digs in and clearly wants to gag, but assures Meredith that it's great. She then turns to Derek and shakes her head surreptitiously, and he puts down the bite he was just about to take.
In a less happy but potentially less food-poisoned house, Bailey is getting ready to leave and giving Tucker instructions about calling the building manager, noting that she left his number on her desk. She finally stops talking and looks up to see her husband doing his best prissy bitch-face, pursing his lips and pointedly ignoring her. She gets ready to go and as she grabs her keys, then he says her name and she calls him on wanting to talk now that she's about to leave. He says she's always on her way out and then asks, "Look, are you interested in being a part of this family or not?" The baby starts to cry, natch, and she just says she can't do this now and leaves, to which Tucker angrily throws down a piece of laundry. That gesture would have made more impact if the laundry had made more of a noise than a pathetic whisper when it hit the table.
Callie runs to catch the elevator, and when she gets on sees Hahn. They have an almost flirty exchange where Callie mentions that Hahn can both outdrink her and kick her ass at darts (I refuse to believe that, by the way, because no matter what, Callie is still infinitely cooler than Hahn) and Hahn admits she had a really good time. They bond over the fact that they aren't group people because they usually don't like people. The elevator doors open and Mark is there in full hot glory. When he wishes them good morning, and Hahn turns to Callie and replies, "Case in point!" They laugh uproariously and head away, and Mark at least realizes he's probably more the butt of than in on this joke and demands to know what's so funny.
"And when man finds himself in trouble, which is most of the time, he turns to something bigger than himself -- to love, or fate, or religion to make sense of it all." Derek trots down the stairs and comes across Rose, who offers him a Sweet Tart. And then she offers him her sweet tart when he asks if she ever eats actual food, and she coyly tells him he'll need to take her to dinner to find out. He says he can't, and admits that while he likes kissing Rose, he's seeing someone. She informs him that everyone knows about him and Meredith. He says, "I have to see it through, I'm sorry." She tells him not to be, adds that it was only a kiss, takes back her sweet tarts, and says she'll see him in surgery. She seems to genuinely mean it, which might just mean she's fairly well-adjusted, though I'm sure if she stays on as a regular that will change right quick.
"But for a surgeon, the only thing that makes any kind of sense is medicine." Cristina gets out a chart with a "yesssssss," and when Izzie rounds the corner, Cristina tells her to back off since Elizabeth Archer is her patient. Izzie snottily informs her, "Actually, she's Hahn's patient, but whatever." We can't keep up with your stupid mood swings, Izzie, you're going to have to let Cristina in on which of your personalities came to work today. Cristina's surprised and taunts Izzie about not fighting her for a good cardio surgery while Izzie pulls out charts and sighs like a martyr while loftily declaring she's "not doing the cardio thing anymore." Ugh, thank goodness we won't have to watch it anymore, then. Cristina doesn't get it and is suspicious, but when Hahn comes up and asks for the chart, Izzie tells them to have fun and leaves, and Cristina announces, "She's not a cardiothorasic surgeon but I could have told you that. I am the rock star." Hahn just takes a moment, spots Karev, and asks if he's a rock star. "Always!" She then takes him as her intern for the day. Cristina runs behind trying to argue why she should be the one there, but Hahn turns and points out that in all her prep, the one thing Cristina didn't notice is that the patient is gone, and she opens a door to show an empty bed to prove her point.
And now for the most awkward meeting of the day: Callie walks through the waiting room and runs into her former mother-in-law. Mrs. O'Malley greets her happily and talks about how she's been calling and getting no calls back, she knows they're busy, etc. etc. and Callie can't get a word in edgewise. Her growing confusion is evident, however. But before she can say anything, Mrs. O tells her she just couldn't wait to show them what she's been working on, and she holds up a tiny knitted yellow cardigan, just perfect for the marriage-fixing baby that fortunately they never conceived.
Lexie runs in, looking flushed, and asks Bailey for some epinephrine while she scratches her stomach. Bailey's phone rings and she answers by telling her husband it's not a good time while Lexie leans in and again whispers, "epinephrine?" Bailey sends her off and argues with her husband a bit until a code blue is called, and she hangs up on him as she runs off...
...And into a patient's room where a woman in a bathrobe is standing to the bed. Bailey tells her to step away, but she says she needs a moment. Cristina comes by and recognizes her as Elizabeth Archer, her would-be cardiac patient, and tries to pull her away. The patient having the code blue looks panicked, but just then, as Elizabeth holds her hands over his chest, the beeping slows down and he stops coding. Bailey stutters a bit, baffled, as we go to the title card to the sound of slow, steady beeping.
Bailey's gotten Elizabeth (played by the always-awesome Glenne Headly, or Janet the Jackal, if you will) back into bed and is questioning her, fascinated by what she does. She has faith, and she's a healer, but she's not a faith healer. Hahn is sternly telling how she's less interested in the healing than her staying in bed, but Bailey interrupts to find out what she did on the other patient. Hahn suggests it was his meds, but Elizabeth asks if those meds usually take two hours to work. Hahn insists that she needs to get into surgery immediately, but Elizabeth says she's not going to do it immediately. She wants to have a shot at healing herself, which involves visualizing the surgery in as much detail as possible, and if that doesn't work, then she'll go under the knife. She feels surgery is horrible and barbaric and wants to exhaust the other possibilities first. Hahn, using all her self control, says Alex can walk her through it, but on the way out snarks, "Call me when she codes." I get that this is kind of out there, but good grief I am sick of Hahn being a totally one-note character.
George comes upon Lexie, pawing through a cart, and asks what she's looking for. Desperately, she tells him it's epinephrine, and turns around to show her face covered in hives; George jumps back into the wall, horrified. Dude, hives -- not bleeding ulcers. It turns out that Lexie is allergic to eggs, but being that she's the adult child of an alcoholic with boundary issues, she couldn't not eat them when Meredith cooked them. I'm still a wee bit shaky on this logic -- I think, "Meredith was finally nice to me and I couldn't ruin it," would have been more straightforward, but okay. George shoots her up and she thanks him for that and for letting her crash on the couch. But George doesn't have time to respond, since Callie comes up behind him, accusing him of not telling his mom that they broke up. Callie hands him a pile of knitted baby clothes (green and yellow so they aren't gender-specific) and rants that his mom is making them clothes since she thinks they're still together and trying to get pregnant, "because she thinks you're still the kind of person who would never cheat on his wife." She throws the clothes at him and tells him Mama O'Malley is waiting in the lobby, while Lexie looks on quietly.
Derek finally gets some teeny little balls and tells Meredith directly that she didn't say what she thought about the house. She has a house. He knows, but this is their house. I think the writers could handle this dialogue in their sleep by now. She asks if between yesterday and today he had plans drawn up. Yesterday, really? Because if that's the case, yesterday Alex was suspended for a week. Seriously, it would have been really simple and made virtually no difference to the story to actually have some tiny semblance of continuity and set this episode a week ahead, or to have Alex not be at work that day. Anyhoodle, he had the plans drawn up weeks ago, but between yesterday and today he decided to show them to her. She asks why, and he lets out a monumental sigh and says that things haven't really changed, have they? Well, McIdiot, you took her not wanting you to date other people to mean she's ready to start planning the rest of your lives together, because... you've never even met her before? I am so sick of this. She takes it better than I do and gently tells him things have changed but this is a lot and it's fast, and they have tons of steps between not seeing others and building a house, and they'll be great and take those steps together, but slow the fuck down, you moron. Okay, that last bit was mine.
Richard finds Bailey on the stairs and asks about the patient who's been wandering the halls and laying hands on people. Bailey corrects that she's back in bed and it was just the one patient. She's clearly rather intrigued by what Elizabeth can do, but Richard isn't so hot on it. He doesn't want patients thinking there's a miracle worker around, both because it can incite panic and hysteria, but also because it's bad for business. He tells her to make sure Elizabeth keeps her hands to herself. The whole time, Bailey's phone has been ringing but she won't answer until he leaves, and then she misses the call.
Already Bailey hasn't kept a close enough eye on Elizabeth, since Sloane is wheeling her back to her room. Hahn thinks he did something but it turns out that she'd gone to see one of Sloane's patients who had a staph infection, and he found her and is bringing her back to her room. Hahn tells him, "Don't worry your pretty little head about it," and gets another pretty head, Alex, to come get Elizabeth. Mark asks if she's noticed that even when she's insulting him, she calls him pretty, but she insists it wasn't a compliment. He asks if it's a gender reversal thing, "Where you're the big man on campus and I'm the hot blonde whose ponytail you can't stop pulling?" Alex, Hahn, and even Elizabeth have a sort of, "what?" look on their faces, and Hahn asks why Mark doesn't get that she just doesn't like him. "That I think you are a crass, predatory ape of a man who just happens to be a decent surgeon." Mark turns to Mrs. A and tells her to heal Hahn, but Mrs. A just asks, "This is really toxic in here. Could somebody please take me back to my room? Because my healing team should be arriving soon." Right now, that's a pretty good statement on the show, and I do wish I had a healing team to make my head stop hurting with how stupid most of these characters are acting.
Izzie sees Mrs. O'Malley in the waiting room and they have a happy reunion, and Mrs. O explains that Callie said she'd find George. And so, as she does so well, Izzie totally blows the whole thing in her usual tactless manner. She's scared that Mrs. O talked to Callie, and Mrs. O says it must be so hard for Callie, and what follows is a classic scene in which they're both talking about different things -- Mrs. O about the trying for a kid, and Izzie about her having sex with her son. She claims that it only happened once, and they were drunk, and she's so happy Mrs. O doesn't blame anyone. Seriously, Izzie, even if you got so far as to admit you and George had an affair, do you really need to go into the drunk sex of it all with his mom? I'll answer that. You don't. She goes on to say how upset they both were that it happened, and that's probably why he failed the intern test, never noticing how quickly Mrs. O'Malley's face is falling. When she shakily asks, "He failed?" Izzie finally gets a clue and realizes she just once again caused a huge problem with her giant mouth. George shows up behind his mom, who can't speak, and Izzie begs that she's sorry and bolts.
Bailey's phone rings again and this time she answers to say she has no time to talk and is being paged to the ER. But in a parent's worst nightmare, it turns out he paged her to the ER since their son has just been brought in. She stands, dumbstruck, as her crying baby is wheeled by and her husband says, "There was an accident."
The whole staff is gathered around, and Derek determines that there's no neurological damage. Bailey tries to listen to his chest while the others all request tests, and Richard goes over to Tucker to clarify that Tuck was found under a bookshelf. He guesses that Tuck tried to climb the unit filled with Bailey's medical books, and that he heard crying and ran in to find him pinned underneath. Bailey calls out to him to stop talking since he's trying to hear, and Richard comes to take over. She won't let him but he pulls her away. Bailey pointedly tells her husband that this is why they have a baby gate, but he says that it was open. She then accuses him of leaving it open, and he replies that he didn't do it. Richard tells them that accidents happen but they begin to have a horrible argument over the baby's screaming basically accusing each other of causing this. It looks like he's got a ton of injuries, but when Tucker asks what that means, Bailey tells him there's no time for questions. Is this in character? I don't think so, it's just within this new, Marital-Problems-Miranda ™ that's been introduced this season, and I don't like it.
George is talking with his mom, who is weepy, panicked, and disappointed in him. She demands to know if he's going to marry Izzie now, but George tells her this isn't about Izzie. Crying, she demands to know what it is about. Debra Monk is playing the shit out of this part. George tells her that he never should have gotten married in the first place, but she retorts that he did get married. And though he didn't invite her or even tell her, she accepted it because he was happy. She reminds him that they are Catholic and don't believe in divorce (or adultery) and demands that he call their priest and confess and go to counseling. George begins to tell her it's too late but she interrupts and desperately tells him that it's not, he made a vow to God and to Callie and now has to make it work. He gets a page and leaves, and when she demands that he stay and talk, George calmly tells her that it's Bailey and he has to go.
George runs into the hall where the rest of the gang are waiting, and they explain to him what happened and that Tuck has multiple rib fractures, potentially a collapsed lung, and they're worried about heart damage. Richard comes out and gives them all instructions, finally telling Meredith to keep an eye on Bailey since she's so upset and he doesn't want it hampering the care for Tuck. Bailey walks in and shoots that she doesn't need a babysitter, to which he agrees and then turns back to Meredith and sends her along after Bailey.
Alex goes back to Elizabeth's room and she introduces him to the two woman who have hands on her and their eyes closed -- Dawn and Mai, her healers. Mai declares that he's a skeptic who shouldn't be there. Alex tells them that Hahn's been called to emergency surgery but that he'll talk them through the procedure. When Mrs. A asks if she'll be long, he answers, "Well, I'm hoping she's done before your heart blows but I can't make any promises." Mai turns and glares at him and mumbles that she said he shouldn't be there. Mrs. A tells him she needs someone who knows what they're doing to talk her through the surgery (because it seems she can pick up on the fact that Alex doesn't) and he replies by looking at the women now holding her feet and declaring that all this is crap and that she's just scared. Mrs. A replies that of course she's scared, but she finds surgery barbaric with all the tearing through flesh and the blood. She works with light and energy, "And if there's even the slightest chance that what I do works, isn't that preferable?" He tells her he doesn't believe in that, and she replies that she's not asking him to believe, she's asking him to help her do it.
The girls are in watching Bailey get Tuck ready for an MRI and Mere comments on how horrible this must be. Christina replies that this is why people shouldn't have kids, and Izzie demands to know what's wrong with her and says this is Bailey's baby. Cristina turns and tells her that no, this is a trauma case, and that's how they need to look at it if they're going to save his life. Izzie says that she and Hahn are exactly alike and deserve each other, which Cristina thanks her for -- Izzie still doesn't get that to Cristina it's a compliment. Mere thought Iz loved cardio, but Cristina jumps in to say now she's pretending not to because she couldn't take the pressure. Izzie remarks, very holier-than-thou, that she's right and that C wins the contest to be the best robot. See, it's less effective when you've spent weeks trying to actually be Cristina, Izzie. They stand up and watch as the scan begins.
Inside, Bailey and Tucker, wearing lead aprons, stand by the baby and Bailey asks him to again explain what happened. He snipes at her a bit and then says someone left the baby gate open, so she snipes back about him accusing her. He claims that she was in such a hurry to leave the house and get away from him, to which she breaks in that this has nothing to do with him, which seems to be the last straw. He blows up that she's the only one who goes in that room, so Tuck went in there looking for her, which put him in the hospital. After a moment, Bailey says, "Sure made a bad choice, huh, Tucker. You picked a bad wife, she made a bad mother, she made you stay home and raise your son and she almost killed him. Poor you, huh." He just crosses his arms and sulks. Neither wins any likable points just right now.
Rose runs up to Derek and asks how Bailey's son is, and he tells her that they're waiting while not looking up from his charts. She stares a moment and asks him if he remembers when she was cool about letting him off the hook for making out with her. And just then, George walks in, hears that, and turns back around to lurk in the doorway. Finally, a little reality that when people talk about their secrets at work, other people are bound to hear! She tells him she's angry because he won't even look at her. He finally looks up and unconvincingly says he's sorry, so she goes on for George's and the viewing audience's sake to recap that it was one really great kiss, but are they going to let that get in the way of a really great professional relationship? She at least jumps in with what I was yelling at the screen at that moment to add that it was great even though he didn't know her name until two weeks ago. They do the "friends" handshake.
Meredith comes in looking for Tuck's films and finds the others all staring at them, but everything is basically in the wrong place. His stomach is in his chest, so you can't even see his heart. While they talk, Bailey walks in and gives some more grim possible diagnoses. Basically, there's layer upon layer of things wrong and it looks really grim. They all watch Bailey sadly until she yells at them to run off and page Hahn and the Chief and to book an OR, and she's left sadly to stand and think for a moment, surrounded by pictures of her son's mangled innards.
Fade up, and Meredith is updating Bailey on the surgery, but when she doesn't know one specific about how she was going to do a repair, Bailey runs into the OR. Hahn can't believe it, but Bailey insists she needs to be there. She's met a formidable opponent in Hahn, however, who won't proceed until she's gone. There's a few tense moments as Bailey begs to hold his hand, but Cristina finally offers to hold Tuck's hand for her for the duration of the surgery. The robot has a heart! And finally, Meredith is able to lead Bailey out of the OR.
Mrs. O'Malley is still in the waiting room, and Callie finds her. She explains that Bailey was so good to her when Mr. O was there and that she can't leave knowing her son is in trouble. "Knowing both of our sons are in trouble." Callie sits down and begins to speak, but Mrs. O interrupts her to say she knows that they think she's old fashioned, but even that doesn't matter, and that what matters is what God thinks. Callie replies, "If it's any consolation, George and I got married on the Vegas strip. At a 24-hour church of Elvis. I'm not sure God was even there." But Mrs. O doesn't share her laughs at the memories, and tells her that He's everywhere. Callie says she used to believe in all that, and Mrs. O asks if she doesn't anymore. Callie tells her sadly that she believes in love and second chances, and talks fondly of being able to be an O'Malley for a little while. Mrs. O takes her hand and finally smiles.
Alex goes to check on Elizabeth and without even opening her eyes, Mia announces that he's back. Alex tells her that her condition is worsening and she needs to be prepped for surgery, but she shoots back that they aren't done yet. At his exasperated sigh, she asks if he knows why Mia knew he was there with her eyes closed. He guesses that she heard him, but Mrs. A says she felt a kind of dark pull. He makes a crack that he's the angel of death, but she corrects him that he's actually "a very good boy." He's got a good heart, but Mia says his gut and his throat are blocked. He laughs as they talk about his chakra but Mrs. A goes on to explain that he's got a darkness at his second chakra, at his throat, "Because whatever happened to you was so, so ugly, and went on for so long, that you don't talk about it. You were hurt so badly that sometimes you want to hurt other people just to spread it around." Mia watches, not unsympathetically, as this clearly gets to Alex. "You were a good boy, Dr. Karev. A good, sweet boy. But you're not a very good man. What happened to you?" His face is totally dark, and he just tells her that she needs surgery. "I'm not a very good man, but I do tell the truth. And the truth is that if you don't get this surgery fast you're gonna die."
Derek sees Bailey through a window and walks into the dim office where she is sitting at the desk, near tears, walking through each of her actions that morning before she left the house. He watches her sadly as she tries to remember if she locked the gate, and quietly tells her that this isn't helping and orders her to stop. She tells him she has to remember, and that it matters because she's his mother and she needs to know if she did this to him. She won't listen to his rationale that "things just happen" and says it's all decisions, crying and yelling now. He orders her to stop and finally grabs her and hugs her, telling him that she and Tucker are good parents who love their baby and that they didn't do this to their son.
George and Meredith are watching through the window, and Mere tells him about the house, and how that scares her to death. George clearly didn't want Izzie to be the only one who put her foot in her moth, and asks Mere if it's because of "the Rose thing." He says it was just one kiss, which Meredith repeats, and George continues on to say he wasn't eavesdropping, they weren't secretive, it doesn't matter since Meredith and Derek are back together, etc. Meredith asks, "Derek kissed Rose?" and George turns to her and says, "Yeah, but you knew that!" and as she runs off he adds, "I'm...an...IDIOT." Well, yeah you are, buddy, because what about anything you saw convinced you that Meredith knew? Secrets aren't a new phenomenon at Seattle Grace. Nor is kissing someone that isn't your significant other, for that matter.
In surgery, Tuck's stomach is repaired, things look good, and they just need to put in his chest tube. Cristina speaks quietly to him to say that's all good, that he's not as bad as they feared. Hahn hears this and, I guess because she can't handle any emotion at all, chooses that moment to ask Cristina if she wants to finish the procedure. Lexie offers to take over holding Tuck's hand, but after a moment, Cristina tells them she's just fine where she is. This might be new for Lexie and Hahn but really, we all knew she had this in her. She looks down at the little head on the table and strokes him.
Hahn and Richard are out of surgery and tell Bailey and Tucker that it was his stomach rather than his colon that ruptured, and they fixed everything and the surgery was a success. Bailey throws back her head with a sigh of relief, but Hahn cautions that there's fluid in the chest cavity so they don't know if he can breathe on his own. Bailey shoots back defensively, "I know that; you don't think I know that?" Richard jumps in to stop anything before it starts and says he's going to the PICU, and then takes Tucker to his baby. Hahn steps forward once she and Bailey are alone and Bailey quietly tells her, "You're new here, you don't know me. And if what you did today ends up saving my son's life I'll thank you for it. But if I never have to look at you again after that, that'll be all right with me." She walks, and to Hahn's credit, she looks a little bit confused and sad about what just happened.
Bailey and Tucker sit by Tuck's bedside and Tucker mentions that they never baptized him since they kept putting it off because they had no time. Bailey asserts that they'll find time when he's okay, and that the two of them will find time. She reaches for Tucker's hand, but he walks away, and then gazes down at his son. Bailey looks tired and also angry and gets up herself.
Izzie is sitting at a desk outside and Alex comes to check on Tuck. She gives him the update and then says she wishes that there was something she could do. It's a nice, genuine, unselfish moment, and then she adds, "Cristina always knows what to do." Alex demands, "What's your deal with her?" Izzie says there's nothing and then drops her head and announces, "I'm crippled with envy." Alex seems surprised and asks if it's because Cristina's better at cardio. Izzie denies that and says it's not being better, it's that Cristina knows what she wants. She has faith in herself and her future and knows who she is, and Izzie wants that and she tried cardio to get it. Alex points out that Cristina is a robot and Izzie tells him that's not the part she wanted; she wanted the faith part.
Richard looks into Elizabeth's room, where her healers are standing with her, and then turns to Bailey, who is waiting outside the door. Bailey asserts that there are tons of scientific reasons that the two patients earlier got better, and not because of Elizabeth's healing. Richard agrees with her, and Bailey asserts that she has faith, but that faith isn't medicine and can't heal someone. Richard agrees but adds, "But then again, it can't hurt."
Derek finds Meredith so that we can have another scene of fighting between these two. He asks after Tuck, and she updates him and then asks, "Who's Rose?" Derek takes a deep breath, paces, says that she's a nurse and then adds defensively, "I kissed her once. I'm sure you know that. That's why you're asking me." Of course it is, you moron! Meredith asks when and when he admits it was yesterday, she jumps over him to point out that yesterday he was doing that, and today he's building their dream house. He says that yesterday they were dating other people, and she tells him it's not the point. He argues that it is. I can say that I fully see both sides of this argument right now, and also that I am SO SICK of these scenes and that a television show can move forward with its characters actually changing and not just doing the same things and having the same arguments over and over and OVER again for three and a half seasons! I can't recap this again. She tells him he doesn't want her, he wants someone who wants the same things, and he pins it back on her, saying he knew that when he showed her the plans she'd find a reason to freak out. Be that as it may, Derek, you MADE OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE YESTERDAY. He called her bluff, he can't do the back and forth and the fighting, and asks if they're together. She brings up that she was in love with him, and he didn't mention that he was married, and he rolls his eyes, all, "Oh, so now we're going to have that fight again." She reminds him that he didn't tell her about Addison and now the nurse, and that's why she can't build a house with him -- she can't trust him. He claims she can't trust anybody and no matter what he does, she'll look for reasons to not trust him. Well, again, maybe don't be making out with other women the day before. If I never see this fight between these two people again on my TV screen, it will be too soon. Thankfully, it looks like I'm going to get a break, because they break up. Again.
Richard and Bailey wheel Elizabeth into Tuck's room and help her up to stand by the crib. She tells them to hold hands, and Tucker asks why. "Because the energy in here, it's not healing." She tells them to hold hands, focus all of their love on Tuck, and forgive each other just for a few minutes. Tucker grabs her hand and Elizabeth reaches in and puts her hands on the baby while literally everyone else watches from the hallway. Derek takes a moment to glance at Meredith, who doesn't glance back, and he sighs.
George goes and finds his mom, who is knitting a little blue hat. She assures him it's not for him, it's for Tuck. George admits that he knows he messed up and didn't tell her anything, but he didn't want to disappoint her and cause her more pain. Not looking up from her knitting, she tells him he should be disappointed in himself. Quietly, he admits that he is. "I don't even recognize myself anymore. This isn't the guy that I wanted to be." She asks dryly who he wants to be. "The guy Bailey named her baby after. I want to be that guy again." She again asks about going to counseling and he turns to her and puts his arm on the back of her chair -- it's a small gesture, but it's more assured than he's been in a long time -- and tells her that will only hurt everyone more. Crying, his mom admits that she misses his dad, and George agrees that he does too. Impulsively, she tells him to move home so she can take care of him. She turns and looks at him with blatant pleading on her face, but he takes a breath and admits, "Mom, I think it's time that I start taking care of myself," and she nods in agreement and kisses him.
Bailey and Tucker stand over the baby's crib, and after a moment Bailey goes out to the gang and tells them it doesn't help her to have them watching, though she appreciates that they care. Just then, Tucker busts out in say he's choking. They all run back in while Bailey cries, "Oh, thank God!" to Tucker's disbelief. Mere explains quickly that it's good because it means he can breathe on his own and is fighting the tube. Alex and Izzie watch from the hall as the others get the tube out, and then Alex turns to Izzie and tells her he needs her help.
Alex walks into Elizabeth's room with Izzie behind him and notes that Hahn said she'd have a heart attack that afternoon, but she didn't. Elizabeth asks if it means he might believe in the healing after all and he bluntly tells her no, but that he'll help her out anyway -- or rather, Izzie will, and he introduces Izzie to Elizabeth. She smiles brightly, confused, and asks why she's there. Alex explains that while Izzie isn't an expert, she's got experience with cardio and has seen the procedure. Elizabeth interrupts to thank him for his effort but before she can turn down the offer, Alex interrupts to point out that, "She's like a bright yellow, right?" Everyone asks, "what?" He explains that Izzie is an optimist, his complete opposite, and asks if that isn't the kind of person they want helping them. Mia notes, "She brightens you, that's for sure." He tells her to shut up, and she cracks her first smile of the day. Izzie asks what they're talking about and Alex responds, annoyed, "Just talk her through the surgery before she croaks, all right? Can you do that?" She agrees to do so and Alex leans in and tells her, "Yang's got nothing on you." She sits down, and Alex watches happily as she begins.
Bailey starts to wrap things up. "As doctors, we know more about the human body now than at any other point in our history." George and Lexie are watching the Bailey family, and Lexie gives the update that Tuck is doing better. He asks if she knows that Tuck is named after him, and she replies that she thought Bailey didn't like interns. He adds, "Yeah, she doesn't." He then takes a deep breath and asks if she found an apartment yet, and starts to stutter, clearly suggesting they could be roommates.
"But the miracle of life itself? Why people live and die? Why they hurt or get hurt? Is still a mystery." Mark is waiting for the elevator when Hahn walks by, ready to leave, and she takes a moment to walk up to him and tell him that he's too pretty, and to suggest that if they didn't work together they'd be knocking boots. He grins slyly but before he can say anything she reminds him that they do work together and that to be good at her job, she has to leave who she is outside when she gets to work. The elevator dings and Callie gets out, looking awesome in a purple top and black pants, and she asks Hahn if she's ready. As they walk out, Mark asks where they're going and offers to meet them, but they just laugh at him and call good night.
"We want to know the reason, the secret, the answer at the back of the book." Derek finds Rose and asks her to dinner. Instead of running to the hills as she should, given that he made out with her, then said he needed to stay with his girlfriend, then asked her out, she accepts. Ladies, never do what Rose just did. This means he's a mess and things are only going to end in tears.
"Because the thought of our being all alone down here is just too much for us to bear." Bailey is sitting with Tuck when Meredith comes in to check on him; Bailey tells her he's going to be fine. Meredith then asks where Tucker is. She stutters that he went home to get sleep, but after a pause continues that he's also going to pack and get a hotel room. Meredith very genuinely tells Bailey that she's sorry, and Bailey replies, "For some reason, life just seems to make a lot more sense when you're looking at a baby." Especially this one, because the babies they have playing the part of her son are absolutely beautiful. Her VO ends, "But at the end of the day, the fact that we show up for each other, in spite of our differences, no matter what we believe, is reason enough to keep believing." And fade to black, most likely for the rest of the season. Let's just keep believing that maybe everything will get resolved and we'll get scripted television back sooner than later.